Chris Jones said he had a secret in the
days leading up to North Texas regular-season finale against Arkansas State on
Thursday night.

UNT, Jones said, was about to make a run.

The Mean Green has made a habit of doing
just that while advancing to the final of the Sun Belt Conference tournament
the last three years.

A repeat has seemed like a distant
possibility at best most of the way in a season when nothing has gone right for
UNT.

The Mean Green needed a reason to have
hope late in the year and seemed to get it in the form of a 74-50 win over the
Red Wolves on Senior Night at the Super Pit.

ASU had already clinched the Sun Belt
Conference West Division, beat the Mean Green earlier in the season and had
been one of the league’s hottest teams.

ASU was no match in the rematch against
UNT, which is suddenly starting to feel good about the way it is playing after
winning three of its last four games.

“We can play with anyone if we play like
we did tonight, but we can’t be comfortable with this win,” UNT forward Tony
Mitchell said. “We have to keep going.”

UNT (12-19, 7-13 SBC) would like to keep
going with the type of performance it put together against ASU (18-10, 12-7).

Alzee Williams led four UNT players who
finished in double figures with 19 points. Jordan Williams added 16, and
Mitchell posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Point guard Chris Jones finished with
eight points, seven rebounds and four steals in just his second game back after
missing 16 games with a broken right foot.

Marcus Hooten led ASU with 18 points and
Ed Townsel added 14.

“I wouldn’t want to play us,” UNT head
coach Tony Benford said. “We have guys like Tony and Roger who have been in the
championship game. We have Chris Jones back and Jordan is playing well. I’m
going to bring four suits.”

UNT is hoping that will give Benford
just enough formal wear to make it through four games in four days.

UNT will be the No. 9 seed in the
conference tournament, a spot it landed with its win over ASU and Troy’s loss
to Middle Tennessee on Thursday.

Closing out the regular season on a
positive note was nearly as important for UNT as entering the conference tournament
on a roll, largely because the Mean Green honored four seniors before the game.

Roger Franklin and Niko Stojiljkovic
played their last game for the Mean Green, which also honored Jacob Holmen and
Justin Patton, a pair of seniors who are out for the year with injuries.

“Before the game, I cried. When I went
out there with my parents, I cried,” Franklin said. “It’s hard to leave home
with everything the Mean Green nation did for me.”

What remains to be seen is if UNT’s win
over ASU will also be Mitchell’s last game with the Mean Green. The sophomore
is a top NBA prospect and has maintained throughout the season that he will sit
down and consider his options at the end of the year.

Mitchell stood by that stance after the
game.

“I don’t know,’ Mitchell said when asked
if he will return for his junior season. “Coach Benford and I have been talking
about it. I will make the decision after the season. I want to sit down with my
family and my coaches.”

Mitchell showed the defensive prowess
that makes him a top NBA prospect against ASU, blocking three shots and
altering several others.

Benford has emphasized all season that
if UNT is to get back to the Sun Belt title game again this season, it will
have to improve defensively. The Mean Green closed in on that goal against ASU.

The Red Wolves went just 1 for 23 from
3-point range, while its 50 points were a season low.

Benford credited that performance partly
to Mitchell and Franklin and the presence they provided in the paint.

“That was a good outing for us
defensively,” Franklin said. “It’s all about effort. We came in with the
mindset that we were going to outplay them. That is exactly what we did.”

That effort was apparent when UNT played
one of its best halves of the season defensively while running out to a 34-24
lead at halftime.

ASU missed all 11 of its 3-point
attempts and shot just 21.2 percent (7 for 33) from the floor.

Jordan Williams and Stojiljkovic both
hit 3-pointers during an early 8-0 run that gave UNT an early 8-2 lead.

The Mean Green pushed its edge to 34-22
late in the first half on a Franklin jumper.

UNT opened the second half on a 10-2 run
that pushed its lead to 44-26 and cruised to the finish of a game the Mean
Green hopes will spark another run to the finals of the Sun Belt tournament.

“We wanted to go into the tournament on
a winning streak,” Franklin said. “Since we are ending on a positive note, we
can carry that over into the tournament. We have Chris Jones back and everyone
playing well. Everything is falling into place.”

Briefly
…

UNT clinched a 10th straight winning
season at home with its win over ASU that left the Mean Green with an 8-7 home
record. … Sophomore center Keith Coleman did not play due to a sprained ankle
but is expected to be ready for the conference tournament.

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